The Stand-up
by 16BlackFlames
Summary: Draco Malfoy's stood her up for the third time. Now he will face her wrath. God help him.


The clock chimed eight. Hermione counted all the eight 'ding' sounds that it made. She was angry. Angry did not even describe it. She was furious, enraged and her temper was above boiling point. Yes she might be over reacting but she did not care. She had every right to do so.

This was the third time it had happened. He was an hour late and who knew how much more time he would take to arrive. She was pacing the room angrily. She pulled of her jacket and threw it- the bracelet, necklace and watch followed. The bracelet broke and the beads scattered. The watch hit the ground with a crack. At first she flinched (he'd given it to her on her birthday).

Good- let it break! She'd had enough of him. This was the third time that he had stood her up this week. The first time he had said he was sick. She had forgiven him immediately, feeling extremely guilty for the way she had shouted at him. "A movie was not more important than one's health," she'd reasoned.

That was on Monday. They had postponed the plan to Thursday and yet again he had failed to showed up. He justified his lack of punctuality by saying that his schedule at work had been extremely busy and he had failed to notice what time it was. "Work came before a movie," she reasoned, letting her logic over-rule her indignation. The plan had been postponed for today- Saturday.

There was something fishy going on. This time he was not sick and being a Saturday she knew he was not working. She'd had enough of his excuses. If he showed up today, she'd be the one talking (more like screaming) and he'd be the one listening. Yes- Draco Malfoy was in for an earful. Now he'd be the one facing her wrath.

Just then the door bell rang. Think of the devil and here he comes, she thought. She glance at the clock- it was quarter past eight. So an hour and a quarter late. She opened the door and there he stood. She just turned and walked to the sofa. He followed awkwardly not failing to notice her cold demeanor.

"Hey baby," he greeted.

The nerve of him, she thought. "Don't 'hey baby' me blondie!" she shouted and he grimaced. He had so done it this time, he thought.

"Okay! You're mad. And you have every right to be, Hermione, but just hear me out..." he replied and then flinched at her expression. Wrong move, he thought. If looks could killed he would be so dead by now because she was glaring daggers at him.

"Hear you out?! No you hear me out. This is the third time this week you've stood me up and I'm starting to think there's more to it than mere sickness or a busy work schedule. Don't you even bother to try and justify yourself this time. You know full well how much I wanted to watch that movie but you know what- forget it. What I'm furious about is you standing me up. I want to know why you failed to show up three times in a row this week!" she shrieked and then her mouth fell open and her eyes went round.

"Wait- are you cheating on me? Because if you are then god help you. Why am I even asking you that- it's obvious you are because there's no other possible explanation for your failure to show up three times in a row. Yes- that's it. You've found another girl. Couldn't you at least have the decency to break up with me rather than leading me on? Or have you lost every ounce of self-respect you own?" she screamed at him then looked at him expectantly. This had gotten way out of hand, Draco thought getting a bit angry.

He did not fail to notice the way her things were strewn about. Bracelet here, necklace there, watch broken (he'd given her that). She must be really mad at him. He gulped.

"Hermione, babe, just calm down and stop over thinking. Firstly, no I am not cheating on you and wouldn't dream of it. How could you even think of that? Secondly, I'm not standing you up (she raised his eyebrow at him) or at least I did not mean to. I promise it was not my intention to hurt you so please let it slide because the reason is quite stupid," he replied cautiously not wanting to further rile her up. "I told you I'd take you on another date but no- you wanted to go on a date to watch the bloody movie. And this probably made no sense."

Hermione seemed to be contemplating. "So you're not cheating on me ... (he nodded) ... you don't mean to stand me up ... (he nodded) ... but you won't go with me to watch that particular movie... (he nodded then internally slapped himself for nodding away like a fool) and you don't want to tell me why becasue the reasons stupid but you will tell me because you owe me an explanation for all the lies you've told me," she summed up. Now why couldn't he say it like that instead of sounding like a blundering fool.

"I'll have to tell you won't I or you won't me talking to me any time soon," Draco stated and she gave him a look that screamed 'DUH!'

"Okay... so this is probably the most embarrassing moment of my life apart from the time when Moody turned me into a ferret. Let's just quickly get over it. Well you see I was little ... you could say jealous of the bloody hero of that film. Whenever you read the book that blasted movie is based on, you'd start squealing and Hermione Granger rarely squeals. And you were practically fawning after that bloody buffoon and when I told you he didn't exist I distinctly remember you getting mad at me. And then lo and behold they go and make a movie out of it and you were all OMG OMG OMG and he kind of existed now and I don't know, I guess I did not want to sit for two hours in the cinema while you drooled after him and forgot all about me-your boyfriend. And this makes no sense so just please forgive me," Draco said. He'd managed to say it all in just a breath or two.

Hermione let his explanation sink in and then she started laughing. She laughed and laughed until the tears flowed down her face and she had to sit on the sofa to prevent herself from falling over. She was bloody laughing at him, Draco thought.

"Mind explaining what's so funny Princess?" Draco asked coldly, scowling.

"You... you were seriously jealous of a fictional character... This is priceless... how can I not laugh," Hermione said still not having controlled her peals of laughter. Then she straightened up. "You're forgiven," she said, "And I think I owe you an apology for doubting you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

"On one condition though," he said.

"What?"

"Have dinner with me tonight and you can consider yourself forgiven."

She laughed and then nodded letting him apparate her to a nearby restaurant. Movie be damned!


End file.
